Trembling in the Ivory Tower

Trembling in the Ivory Tower

Excesses in the Pursuit of Truth and Tenure

By:

Kenneth Lasson

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Summary

In this gem of a book, scholar and wit Kenneth Lasson takes on all manner of excesses in the Ivory Tower which, from his insider's viewpoint, constitute little less than a full-scale assault on American values and mores. The ideological warfare is being waged by a slew of vociferous academicians whose predominance is manifested by stifling academic bureaucracies, radical feminist and deconstructionist faculties, and overbearing speech and conduct codes—all in invidious pursuit of narrow but pervasive political agendas. Trembling in the Ivory Tower ponders the questions many of us should be asking, and supplies the answers we should be demanding: Why have universities apparently abandoned the concept of vigorous debate in an open marketplace of ideas? Why are senior professors increasingly being charged with creating "hostile environments," despite emerging victorious whenever they challenge their arbitrary punishments in court? In an age of easy catch phrases, media hype, and watered-down scholarship, Trembling in the Ivory Tower is a welcome breath of fresh air that pays homage to original, not merely popular, thought.

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